Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2016 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ =========================================================================== Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== A History of the Northern Peninsula of Michigan and its People, Vol. III by Alvah L. Sawyer Lewis Pub. Co., Chicago - 1911 [1164-1166] CHARLES KAHLE.- Of the sterling citizens that the city of Menominee has gained from the great empire of Germany is CHARLES KAHLE, a representative of that old and honored family of the province of Saxony, whither he emigrated more than thirty-eight years ago. During the greater portion of the intervening period he has maintained his residence in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan or in northern Wiscon- sin, and he was for a number of years actively identified with the great lumber industry when the same was the principal line of enter- prise in this section. He is now engaged in the hotel business in Menominee, Michigan, where he owns and conducts a popular hostelry known as the Charles House. He is held in high esteem in Menominee and has served as a member of its board of aldermen. CHARLES KAHLE was born in the province of Saxony, on the 1st of October, 1847, and is a son of CHARLES and TERESA (KUMMER) KAHLE, both of whom were likewise born in Saxony, where they continued to reside until their death, and where the father was engaged in agri- cultural pursuits through his entire active career, having been a man of sterling integrity and much business ability and having beeome the owner of one of the valuable farms of that section of the German empire. Of the four children, the subject of this sketch is the eldest; FREDERICK is a resident of Leipsic, Germany; FRANK is with the government at this time in Germany, and HENRIETTA died in infancy. To the excellent public schools of his native land CHARLES KAHLE is indebted for his early educational training, and in accordance with the laws of the country, he served for three years in the German army, in which connection he had the distinction of being a member of the body guard of the Emperor of Germany. In 1872, at the age of twenty-five years, he emigrated to America, landing in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, on the 21st of May, of that year. He thence made his way to Chicago, and from the western metropolis came to Mari- nette, Wisconsin, the twin city of Menominee, Michigan. His arrival here was onthe 9th of June, 1872, and he forthwith secured employment in connection with the lumbering business, being engaged as a saw- mill operative during the summer months and working in the lumber woods during the winter season. In the winter of 1873-4, in order to gain a better knowledge of the English language, he attended a pri- vate schoolin the city of Chicago, and his ambition in this con- nection may be understood when it is stated that he was present at three sessions each day. In paying for such instructions he practi- cally utilized all of the money which he had previously earned through his arduous labors i the northern country. In the spring of 1874 MR. KAHLE went to New Orleans, Louisiana, and thereafter he was somewhat of a wanderer for seven years, having been employed in many of the principal cities in the south, from the national metropolis to Galveston, Texas. In 1879 he made a visit to the fatherland, where he renewed the associations of his boyhood days. Upon his return, he located in Chicago and from there came to Menominee again and on the 4th of May, 1880, he purchased a ticket that afforded him railroad transportation from Galveston, Texas, to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in which latter city he tarried for two weeks, at the expiration of which he returned to Marinette, Wisconsin, where he continued to be employed in connection with lumbering operations until 1882, when he again made a visit to his venerable parents in Germany. On his return to New York City he wasthere united in marriage on the 17th of August, 1882, to MISS MARGARET HABERMANN. He then came with his bride to Marinette, Wisconsin, and here he was employed as a clerk in the National Hotel conducted by JOSEPH JUTTNER, until the 1st of May, 1886, when he was engaged in the same line of enterprise on his own responsibility. In 1888 was completed the erection of his present hotel building, a substantial brick structure, three stories in height, and this hotel he has since conducted with unqualified suc- cess. The building has accommodations for the entertainment of about twenty-five guests, and its services in all departments is such as to gain and retain to it a large and appreciative patronage. MR. KAHLE is a wide-awake business man and a loyal and public-spirited citizen. He has taken a deep interest in local afaffairs, and in 1891-2 he represented the Third ward on the board of aldermen. In politics he accords a stanch allegiance to the Democratic party. He is popular in the social circles of Menominee, especially among those of German birth or extraction, and he is identified with the local organization of the Sons of Hermann and the Deutscher Krieger Verein, in which latter he holds the office of orderly sergeant. The membership in this latter organization is confined to those who have seen active service in the German army. As above stated, MR. KAHLE was united in marriage to MISS MARGARET HABERMANN, on the 17th of August, 1882. She was born in one of the Rhenish provinces of Germany, on the 18th of December, 1862, and is a daughter of JOHN PHILIP and MARGARET (ZELL) HABERMANN, both of whom were likewise natives of the beautiful Rhine section of Germany, where the father was born in 1816 and the mother on the 4th of April, 1831. The parents continued to reside in their native land until their death, the father having passed away on the 18th of August, 1876, and the mother in July, 1887. Of the four children of MR. and MRS. HABERMANN, two are now living, MRS. KAHLE being the younger; CHARLOTTE is the wife of ADAM SAUERZAPF, of Chicago. The father was a man of high intellectual attainments and a member of a wealthy and influential family. He was graduated in one of the leading German universities and the major portion of his active career was devoted to forestry. In conclusion of this sketch is entered a brief record of the chil- dren of MR. and MRS. KAHLE. Of the eight children born to them, only three are now living: FREDERICK CHARLES, who was graduated in the department of electrical engineering in the University of Michigan, as a member of the class of 1906, is now a successful and valued teacher in the Hackley Manual Training School at Muskegon, Michigan; MAE, who was graduated in the Menominee high school, is a telegraph operator, and now occupies the responsible position of manager of the Postal Telegraph-Cable Company in Marinette, Wisconsin, and EDWARD OTTO, who is a graduate of the Menominee high school and also of a business college in Marinette, is likewise a telegraph operator and is employed in the office with his sister. ==========================================================================